


the definition of insanity

by nickofhearts



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, New Game+++
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 15:43:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11164971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickofhearts/pseuds/nickofhearts
Summary: Noctis dies, then dies again.





	the definition of insanity

Noctis stalked through the halls of the Citadel, shoulders hunched in on himself. It was easy to affect a look of lassitude and weakness when that was all anyone _expected_ of him. The guards didn't even give him a second glance when Noctis slouched in, waiting on the side of the room for the day's audiences to be over. He leaned against the wall and put up the pretense of playing on his cell phone while he watched the going ons around him out of the corners of his eyes.

Regis looked tired as he waved his son forward, probably wondering why Noctis was here and not in class, like he _should_ be.

Noctis skipped the awkward small talk and raised himself up to his full height as he took the steps to the throne. Walk _tall,_ wasn't that what his father had said?

He didn't waste time on pleasantries, instead pulling his favourite sword out of the air and thrusting it into his father's chest, twisting for good measure. Noctis leaned in to whisper: " _How does it feel from the other side?_ "

-

Noctis had cut his way through the Kingsglaive easily—a fucking walk in the park after all the shit he'd gone through before the end.

He shook the blood off his blade and whistled as he walked the streets of his city. They were whole and not burning or in ruins, but that didn't make him _happy._ None of these people knew _suffering,_ what Noctis would have to pay for each and every one of their pathetic little lives.

He stopped, turning when he heard someone calling his name.

Prompto was staring at him in horror. " _Noct—_ "

"Don't worry, Prom," Noctis told him, and _what the hell,_ he thought, warping to close the distance between them and then grabbing Prompto's chin in hand, kissing his mouth. Noctis supposed he should be unsurprised when Prompto didn't even _try_ push him off. Well, that was one curiosity satisfied. 

Noctis shrugged, laughing madly, head thrown back. "Next go around, you won't even _remember_ any of this."

-

He headed out of the city and towards the nearest gas station to feed a few hundred gil to the chocobo rental meter. "Lia," Noctis greeted his faithful steed when she came at his whistle. " _You_ remember me, don't you girl?"

Lia butted her head against his fingers, chirping at him in familiarity. 

Noctis took his time getting to Tenebrae. He wasn't in any particular hurry, after all. 

He even stopped for a few hours at his favourite fishing hole in Leide, enjoying the relative peace of not having the rest of the fucking gang's commentary throwing off his concentration. "Suck a dick, Gladio," Noctis muttered, tossing the latest fish back when it turned out to be spirited but rather undersized and Noctis heard Gladio's voice in his head like Gladio _was_ standing right next to him. 

"Not _mine,_ obviously, since it's not up to _standard._ "

-

Noctis knocked most of the soldiers guarding _Lady Lunafreya_ out with well-placed lightning spells, watching the MT units fizzle and twitch on the ground. They weren't even cannon fodder at this point, and Noctis doubted they'd make much of a dent on his health bar even if he left them alone—they were just _annoying._

Noctis kicked one in the head as it came lumbering at him, grinning viciously when it crumpled immediately to the floor. Instant K.O.

"Hey, Luna," Noctis waved as she made her way gracefully down the winding staircase with a placid Gentiana in tow. He sighed a little wistfully. Once upon a time, he remembered loving her, or at least the _idea_ of her, a beautiful princess in a high tower, waiting for Noctis.

"Noct, what are you _doing—_ "

Noctis bared his teeth in a snarl when the room suddenly dropped ten degrees as he reached for a sword. "Gonna interfere _now,_ Shiva? You sure as hell didn't the _last_ dozen times she died."

Luna looked between Noctis and her handmaiden in confusion and then at the sword that was stuck into her chest, her white dress turning slowly red as he tugged it out again.

"Sorry, Luna," Noctis told her cheerily. He shrugged, almost bashful. "It's nothing personal, really. I'll cry extra hard for you next time, yeah?" His smile turned vicious. "Unless you're _in_ on it." He slapped her lightly on the cheek, making her eyes focus on him again. "Tell me you didn't know about the whole grand plan of the Astrals, and we'll call it even here." Luna didn't say anything, but Noctis saw it in the widening of her eyes, the smallest gasp of breath that made blood bubble out of her mouth, trickling down her chin.

Noctis crushed her skull under his boot, grinding his heel down for good measure.

-

"I know, I _know,_ " Noctis said, holding his hands up as Ardyn opened his mouth for a grand speech; he'd heard enough of them that he could probably repeat them back verbatim at Ardyn himself. "You're immortal, blah blah blah, two thousand years you've waited for the Chosen King to end your sadsack of a life." 

Noctis warped forward and stabbed him through the chest. 

Ardyn staggered back under the force of the blow, falling against his desk, while Noctis watched, waiting curiously. It was a crapshoot whether he'd be able to kill Ardyn outside the completely arbitrary rules the Astrals had set for his demise; Noctis _had_ the power, but it seemed—nope.

"I'm still alive," Ardyn said, giving Noctis a look that was almost _accusing,_ disappointed in him.

 _Welcome to the club,_ Noctis thought. He shrugged. "Well guess what, so am I."

He sighed, going over the mental checklist of things he'd wanted to try this time around before he fell back into the _usual_ groove of recollecting the scattered pieces of his Armiger and beating some Astral ass. That left just the one:

"Hey Ardyn—wanna fuck?"


End file.
